Content for teachers and students about robotics in our world. Is robotics the Perfect Platform for 21st Century Learning? Read on!.. Would you like your student robotics activities presented here? Leave a comment or email me. And check out Robotics for Teachers PODCAST @ http://www.roboticsforteachers.com/

Friday, August 29, 2014

While I personally think of the robots that students use more as Learning Resources than as Toys, the following quotes that I found at Thousands of Tiny Robots: The Modular Robotics Blog to be thought provoking and insightful!From the post titled "Why Robots? An Introduction"... "... robot toys are a lot of fun and have some great life skills embedded into the play experience."and "...robot toys are the opening move in a game of chess that could result in humanity reaching fantastic new heights"I absolutely agree and recommend that you check out the full post at the blog, the source of the above quotes: http://www.modrobotics.com/2014/06/26/why-robots-an-introduction/MarkPS - by the way, I was quite impressed with what I saw of MOSS/Modular Robotics at the recent ISTE Conference in Atlanta (June, 2014). You'll find it in my Report on Robotics Resources @ ISTE that I posted shortly after returning from the conference

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The unbelievably fast KUKA robot faces off against one of the best table tennis players of all time. Who has the best technique? Who will win the first ever table tennis duel of human versus robot?
Watch this thrilling commercial of table tennis and robotics performed at the highest level. The KUKA KR AGILUS demonstrates its skills with the table tennis racket - a realistic vision of what robots can be capable of in the future.

Timo Boll, the German table tennis star, is the new brand ambassador for KUKA Robotics in China. The collaboration celebrates the inherent speed, precision, and flexibility of KUKA's industrial robots in tandem with Boll's electrifying and tactical prowess in competition. To celebrate the new KUKA Robotics factory in Shanghai, the thrilling video was a highlight of the Grand Opening on March 11th, 2014. The 20,000 sq. meter space will produce the KR QUANTEC series robot as well as the KRC4 universal controller for the Asian market. As a market leader in China, KUKA aims to further develop automation in the country while providing a modern and employee-friendly working environment.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Robot cops rule! Humanoids take over streets of Kinshasa to tackle traffic chaos

How do you solve the problem of choking road traffic in one of the world's bustling megacities? You bring in the robot cops.

In Kinshasa, the sprawling capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, two humanoid robots have been installed in high-traffic areas to regulate the flow of vehicles and help drivers and pedestrians traverse the roads safely.

Friday, August 1, 2014

(Here's a nice little piece that describes a few of the many ways that teachers and students use robotics to foster learning. Of the resources and approaches mentioned,LEGO Robotics, by far, is the most popular... re-blogged from ISTE Connects Blog)

"Easy tools for using robotics in the classroom"

By Amanda Pressly6/14/2014Topics: Robotics

"Using robotics to inspire learning isn’t a new concept in the ed tech community, but finding easy-to-implement resources for getting started continues to be a struggle for many educators, parents and students.

Here’s a look at how members of the ISTE community are using robotics both in and out of the classroom:Robots for all learnersRobotBASIC: This is a free tool for schools, teachers and students. Developed with help from 33-year education veteran John Blankenship, it’s among the most powerful educational programming languages available, with nearly 900 commands and functions.LEGO Robotics: Perhaps one of the most widely used robotics programs used in classrooms, LEGO Robotics lets students at any learning level create and command robots. Middle school teacher Kelly Schnittker led a team of students who competed in a Lego Robotics competition , where they learned as much about problem solving and collaboration as they did engineering and programming.EZ-Robot: EZ-Robot provides a platform that scales between beginner and advanced users, who learn logic, soldering, electronics and modular design, all while modifying a toy shell into a personal robot. Business developer Dennis Kambeitz uses EZ-Robot at home with his sixth grade son. Within the first hour of use, his son had activated the built-in camera, turned on the robot’s facial and color tracking abilities, and had created two custom movement sequences that included playing back his recorded voice through the robot's speaker.Raspberry Pi : The idea behind the tiny and affordable computer for kids came in 2006 when the developers noticed a year-on-year decline in the numbers and skills levels of students applying learning through computer science. Educator Thomas Dubick inspires STEM learning among his female middle school students using Raspberry Pi. Watch their TED Talk to see the amazing work they’ve been doing.

Specialized tools and programsFor early education:Bee-Bot is an exciting new robot designed for young children. ICT coordinator Linda Bradfield has recently begun using Bee-Bots in her K-2 classrooms and has found them to be a wonderful tool for teaching perseverance, mathematical concepts, collaborative skills and much more.For college-bound students: Using unmanned aircraft, high school seniors in Alaska participate in activities such as simulated search-and-rescue operations, sea ice charting and data collection for a NASA aviation safety project . Program director John Monahan says benefits of the project include “giving students a bird’s-eye view of their communities and … exciting them about college and about STEM careers.”For virtual education: Using robots to enhance virtual learning is something we once only dreamed about. But educators in Kodiak, Alaska , will soon be able to roll into their distance classrooms on two wheels! ISTE member Bob Whicker, director of the Consortium for Digital Learning at the Association of Alaska School Boards, is on the forefront of making this futuristic dream a reality throughout rural Alaska.

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Getting Started with LEGO Robotics. Anyone who works with kids can do LEGO Robotics, a rich and highly motivating platform for important STEM Learning! (surprisingly affordable, too) This books explains it all!